Hockey World League: Toothless India go down 0-2 to England

New Delhi: India began 2014 on a rusty note, looking out of sync and a distant second on a chilly Friday night against a superior England outfit that beat the hosts 2-0 in a Pool A encounter of the Hockey World League final here at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Friday.

There was no momentum about Indian moves even as England didn't play anything special in the first half but still managed to go 1-0 up at the break. The World No. 4 wasted, like India, two penalty corners in the first half before converting one in the 28th minute through Adam Dixon in a crafty variation.

Dixon returned in the second half to double the lead in the 45th minute, by when England were playing a lot more authoritatively. It was another penalty corner that Dixon converted - this time with a direct flick.

England could have gone into the lead in the 17th minute when Simon Mantell was denied by the post that was otherwise well guarded by Indian goalkeeper and vice-captain PR Sreejesh. Before that India earned back-to-back penalty corners in the 15th min, which Rupinderpal Singh and VR Raghunath failed to make count.

While England upped their game considerably in the last 35 minutes, errors continued to creep into the Indian game, including the perennial performance in defensive line. All Indian players, including star midfielder Sardar Singh, were off colour - which was evident in their erratic passing and soft unforced errors that gifted possession back to the English team.

India looked to have scored in the 60th min, when a grounded flick from Rupinder off India's third PC of the game found its way into the England goal. But the visitors asked for a video referral, which saw the umpire disallowing the goal as the India stopper stopped the ball inside the circle.

India's new chief coach Terry Walsh has termed 'improvement' as a goal for the Indian team in this tournament, but there was no sign of it on Friday.

India next play against New Zealand on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Black sticks were humbled 6-1 in their first by Germany.